Do you get time off?
Yes, like any other person we need to have time off to recharge ourselves. As a religious community, in our province we take four weeks from the summer and then we take a week, either at Christmas or Easter. There's always a few days that we're meant to take a retreat. We do a five to eight day retreat every year, and that's to recharge our batteries and to make sure that we're focused on God. To tune into my energies coming from God in order that for the year that unfolds I can work out of that energy, that, to set the balance right. In a sense, it's like looking at your map and getting your coordinates right again, knowing where you are so that you can go in a direction that you want to move in. There's good restful periods, definitely. If a priest needs rest, the Bishop or the local superior will always help him. Some priests tend to burn out because they feel they can't leave their people, their congregations, and their parishes because they're very much needed, and it's true that they're needed. If a priest can't or hasn't got the resources to give, he's just going to burn himself out. There's much more of an awareness now of needing to take time, needing to recharge our own batteries, and needing to relax with our own families and friends in order for us to be better serving, and being a presence in those who need and to a community in need.
